First of all, thanks a lot to everyone playing the game and supporting us in one way or another! We really appreciate it and you are the ones who keep this game alive.
We got hundreds of questions again, thank you for the interest in the game and myself. Unfortunately, I was not able to answer all of them, as I skipped any duplicates (from this session or already answered last year), anything covered by NDA or which potentially could be abused, as well as dozens of suggestions and questions on the plans (which we never share). I hope you find the answers useful or interesting, here they are:
Q: First off thank you guys for making one of my favorite games and thanks for doing another AMA. My question for you Dmitri is can we get more/better communication about the game when it comes to the future of the game as well as bug fixes? Development updates are very few and far between, even if we weren’t given a timeline on things some kind of “this is what we are currently working on” and an update on what bugs are being looked into would benefit the community
A: Sorry if we are not so communicative. Avery and I are trying to pop up on the different social channels, but sometimes we are just overloaded with the stuff to do to make sure the planned releases are up to par.
Q: Will there ever be a rough roadmap released? As in just planned future updates (maybe not even very detailed explanations if the ideas aren’t finalized), but without planned release dates and the like, just stuff we could expect in the future. In terms of new animals, such entries could just be “New Animal to X reserve”.
A: Sharing the plan is a bad idea and we will never do that again. We started to share the gossip on the Fallow Deer too early and with the delays we faced, we really disappointed people. I never want the same stress again.
Q: Is there any chance of an in-game map change? Since I notice that Settler creeks, Loggers Point, and Timbergold Trails are practically right and joined next to each other on the overworld map. Or maybe any plan to extend/add sizes to the current map roster?
A: I personally do not think any existing map should be changed/adapted. It would be better to put effort into a new map instead.
Q: Would you guys like to add boats to classic?
A: I always thought boats are more for fishing, not hunting…
Q: Is the trophy lodge y’all are thinkin’ about addin’ later down the road gonna be like the safari lodge in COTW? (Meaning super spacious with tons of different mounts)
A: We are still working on the specifics, but this is the idea, yes.
Q: Will there ever be a comp generator for public use? Where community members could set up hosted comps. Respectfully,
A: This is one of our ideas – to give players the ability to create and host their own competitions. Unfortunately, we have some unresolved technical and, worse, legal issues with that. But I still have a hope to implement it in the future.
Q: What are the plans for support for Classic? Do y’all foresee being able to support this game for decades to come still? Is there a plan of action for offline support if/when the servers are shut down permanently? Anything that you’d be comfortable sharing in this regard would be lovely to know.
A: I can only say we did not have a single discussion with the higher management about the end of support of Classic during my watch. We discussed multiple things (such as a roadmap, new features, etc), but never the end date. As long as Classic has such a cool fanbase, it will be alive!
Q: What feature was the most tedious/difficult to implement into the game? What made it so difficult?
A: Fallow Deer antlers. Considering the complex structure of the antlers and TruRacks technical specifics, it was a nightmare for us. I was desperate at some point and thought we should reject the idea of Fallow Deer completely even though we were so close to finalizing it.
Q: How do the floating mechanics work?
A: Any dead body floating in the water will drift to the nearest shoreline.
Q: For a more chill question: Who’s your favourite artist/band and overall music genre/subgenre?
A: Oh, I’m listening to so much music, I can hardly name my top 3 genres, not even artists. The most frequent I listen to are trip-hop, reggae, and electronic music (primarily with the broken beats). And being so old, it is usually from the 80s-00s.
Q: If you could only hunt with one gun in classic what would you choose?
A: I like the 9.3x74R O/U Break Action Rifle.
Q: Favourite colour?
A: I have a variety of colorblindness called ‘low color sensitivity’, which means I do not see the difference between some color shades (for example, some shades of blue and pink look absolutely similar to me). That’s why I prefer black, as I never mix it up with any other color.
Q: Are we going to get a new April 1 animal/creature
A: I cannot say if it will be a new creature, animal, joke, or whatever, as I do not know myself yet. But we will definitely do something special, as we take Fools Day very seriously!
Q: Can we get Big Bird from sesame street for the next April?
A: Disney owns the copyright on Big Bird. Therefore, the chances are not high.
Q: New animals?
A: Yes.
Q: The one question I have is “will we possibly get sika deer eventually?”
A: Don’t we have enough deer already?
Q: Will there be more animals released this year?
A: Yes..!?
Q: Is there any plans for reworking Red Deer to look more like real ones? Current version of them is just copy-paste of Elk with changed antlers and sounds.
A: No, we do not have such plans. Red Deer and Elk are pretty similar in real life too, don’t you think?
Q: What rarity Its an albino wt non-typ score 300+
A: Extremely rare. There’s a tiny chance of finding an albino, and a tiny chance of finding a non-typical. So the even tinier chance of finding an animal that’s both makes it extra rare.
Q: So what’s your dream animal to add to the game?
A: Very difficult question as these were Puma and Fallow Deer which have already been added. Can we consider Bigfoot as an animal?
Q: which animal behavior has been the most challenging to get right and has there been any you’d like to implement?
A: I think it would be great to make Pumas climb the trees, which we failed to implement due to the engine limitations. It would definitely add more realism.
Q: Will there be more feeders and bait in the future?
A: We never discussed it, as we do not see a reason for it. I think hunting any species in the game is already well-balanced and do not see a reason to add any extra lure features there. That being said, new animals might bring new lures 😉
Q: Can you tell us the elk bulls’ population numbers? are they fixed or Random?
A: Random within a limited range is all I can give you. We never release spawn numbers.
Q: Bushranger’s Run has the Axis Deer now, but still has what is essentially unused space in the west-northwest half of the map. Is there any possible chance that the map could see further development or improvement or upgrading in the western half, to make better use of all that wonderful, nearly animal-free, terrain out there? Please say yes. So much could be done. Thank you for taking our questions.
A: It is good we still have free spaces in the existing reserves, as it means we still have space for the new animals, right? 😉
Q: Do you like classic more as a game or to develop it
A: Unfortunately, I do not have much time to play it, as I have work, family, and some other duties. Even though I try to spend Friday nights joining random MP games and playing to get feedback and practice. But developing this awesome game is real fun for sure.
Q: Did you have real hunters help develop Classic?
A: Yes, of course. We have some advisors as well as beta testers (big ups and thanks to them!) who are hunters in real life. We do, however, have to balance realism against gameplay and balance within the scope of the engine which can lead to some discrepancies between real life and the game experience.
Q: What features would you like to see the most, even among the ones that would be really tricky to implement… In other words, let your imagination loose.
A: I remember I answered last year, and still think it would be cool but absolutely not realistic – VR.
Q: Do you/devs have the ability to adjust animal spawn rates on reserves? say for example during the community League Competitions?
A: Oh, that’s one of my favorite conspiracy theories saying that the spawn rates/locations are different for the new players, or change during the events or competitions or on some mission activation. I can confirm now (and can do the same in the court) that we never do so – manually or automatically. This game is all about random, the same as real life.
Q: What is the Devs standpoint on that matter of “Tents Mashing”? killing yourself on purpose to fast travel to new spawn locations? is that considered a cheat? game mechanic abuse? is it punishable? getting warnings or even bans? or is it 100% legal to do? and do you have plans to counter it if it’s not?
A: If it’s not in a competitive setting, we don’t care about mashing or the killing yourself shortcut. Otherwise, we handle it on a case-by-case basis. We’ve taken steps to counter some of the abuses in events and competitions and have some plans for more counters.
Q: Does the latest release of the 3D camo scarves and packs add a higher effective camo capability when worn with t the original clothing than the previous 5-piece 3D clothing were able to give on their own.
A: Their effects stack, so yes.
Q: Maybe a way to preview clothes before you buy them. Like you have a default avatar, and you can add different combinations of clothes
A: It would be handy probably, but I can’t promise we could spend our limited resources on this feature in the nearest future, sorry.
Q: Any chance of updating the avatars? After looking at Ringtail Studio’s project portfolio there are very detailed examples. Clothing and accessories can only go so far, ya know?
A: It would be a good idea.
Q: Will you ever give the checkered clothing a camo effect? It’s very effective on animals IRL because it breaks up the human shape and many animals have vision similar to red-green color-blindness.
A: We already have a few, as far as I know. HooCairs wears one on his every video.
Q: Is the lore on the wendigo on Whiterime Ridge true?
A: Not really. We had to take some artistic license with it although some elements of the original lore do remain intact, such as the noise, cannibalism, and the shot to the cold, icy heart (although the last should be done with a silver bullet, and some further steps taken to be sure it doesn’t come back for revenge.)
Q: Do you guys have BBQs on weekends? If so, do you put game meat on the menu?
A: Pixel meat does not taste good 🙁
Q: What’s your opinion on tacos?
A: I need to visit Mexico to make a final decision on that. We do not have proper ones in Estonia.
Q: Favorite RPG/Action-adventure game
A: No time to play now, but I spent many nights playing CS:GO years ago.
Q: it’s an AMA so what’s your preference when it comes to programming languages? I prefer python personally
A: C#, thank you for asking.
Q: Hi, I was wondering what programming languages you would recommend to learn first when you want to make games.
A: I assume we are talking about desktop, not mobile, right? And professionally? In this case it should be C# or C++ depending on the engine you want to use. C# is easier to learn and will set you up for the harder C++ if C++ looks a little daunting.
Q: If you had an unlimited budget and a huge developer team, what kind of game would you make?
A: theHunter Classic 2 with all your suggestions there.
Q: Any other games in the works?
A: I am still under the NDA, you know…
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